Blade dispensing magazine



June 19, 1951 N. TEST! 2,557,323

BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE Filed sept. 11, 1947 aientecl June 19, 1951 BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application September 11, 1947, Serial No. 773,444

9 Claims.. (Cl. 20G- 16) This invention consists in a new and improved blade-dispensing magazine for dispensing lineedged cutting blades, such as safety razor blades. In one aspect, it comprises an improvement in finger-operated magazines, that is to` say, magazines in which one blade after another is separated from a stack and ejected by manipulation of the thumb or nger of the user, although certain of its features have a broader application.

Bladedispensing magazines have heretofore controlled the position of the combined blade stack and the ej ecting movement of the individual blades by inserting in the magazine a spring or by maintaining the blade stackl normally in a ilexed or tensioned condition. I have discovered that the operation of loading or charging the magazine may be facilitated and the life of a magazine constructed of plastic material substantially increased by eliminating the spring theretofore used or the flexing of the blade stack under normal conditions. In other words, the magazine and blade combinationof my invention involves no continued stress of any element. The blades in the magazine normally keep a iiat and unstressed position and neither the blades nor a separate spring subject any part of the magazine to stress. These desirable results I achieved by supporting the blade stack in a tension-free manner within the magazine and so that outward passage of all the blades is positively prevented under these normal or usual conditions. The blade stack, however, is supported in such a manner that it may be temporarily flexed when it is desired to eject a blade, and the leading end of one blade of the stack thus brought into registration with an exit opening or outlet in the magazine. To this end, an important feature of the invention consists in a substantially rectangular casing having a cover with a linger opening therein and a bladeexit opening at one end at least, together with internal projections for supporting a stack of flexible blades in unstressed condition within thecasing in areas out of line with the finger opening, whereby the blades may be flexed or curved by pressure in an intermediate area and so moved at one end into registration with the exit opening.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in perspective and on an enlarged scale of the loaded magazine; p

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view of the cover shown in inverted position;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view of the base section;

Fig. 4 is a view on longitudinal section on the line d--Il of Fig. 1 but on a still larger scale; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 4 but showing the blade stack as being flexed by a finger of the user.

The magazine may be constructed of sheet metal or plastic resin, such as Vinylite, polyethelyne, or the like. It is herein shown as adapted for double-edged safety razor blades of a well-known commercial type, although not by any means limited to that or any other specic razor blade. The magazine comprises a substantially rectangular casing or shell made up of a base Ill and a cover I9, as shown in Figs. 3 and 2 respectively. The base I0 comprises a fiat rectangular plate tapered upwardly slightly at both ends and provided adjacent to each corner with an upstanding rectangular projection II, I2, I3 and I4. Spaced supports in the form of transverse bars I5 and I6 are secured to the base I0 and spaced from each other by a distance equal approximately to one-third of the length of the base. In practice, these supporting bars ymay project about one-sixteenth of an inch above the plane of the base and may be oppositely beveled at their opposed inner edges. The base also carries a pair of upstanding studs Il and I8 located in its median axis with one stud between 'each of the supporting bars and the adjacent end of the base. The inner edge of each stud is beveled outwardly and upwardly while its outer edge is rectilinear in outline.

The cover is formed with side walls which are shouldered to receive between them the edges of the base It and, when thus assembled, the two sections may be secured by cement or fusing or in any other convenient manner. The cover is provided centrally and symmetrically with an oval thumb openingZll of substantial area. It is also provided with four downwardly-extending rectangular pads 2 I, 22, 23 and 24, located in pairs outside the periphery of the thumb opening 20 and in the same position longitudinally as the cross-bars I5 and I6 occupy in the base. The cover tapers at its ends to meet the taper of the base and is provided at each end with an internal flange 25 and 26 respectively.

When the two sections of the casing are assembled, an exit slot is formed atueach end, dened at one end by the flange 25 of the cover and the projections Il and l2 o! the base. and

at the other end by the flange 26 of the cover and the projections I3 and I4 of the base. The central open space between the end projections II, I2 ,and I3, I4, provides a blade chamber with clearance for the blades. In case the blades are double-edge blades 30 having a central longitudinal slot 3| and corner notches which denne elongated unsharpcned end portions in the blade, the end portions project into the space between the projections II and I2 at one end and the projections I3 and I4 at the other end of the magazine. Each blade moreover is provided with direction indicators such as the arrows 32, indicating in which direction the uppermost blade in the stack should be moved to be ejected.

The magazine may be loaded or charged with a stack of these unwrapped blades 32) before the two sections of the magazine are assembled by merely laying the blades in iiat condition upon the transverse supporting bars I and I6, but in staggered relation with alternate blades threaded or empal-d on the stud I I and the intermediate blades similarly cmpaled on the stud I8. As herein shown, one blade 3-3 is empaled on the stud I8 and two blades on the stud I1, one of these bring the blade which appears uppermost in the stack in Fig. l. This blade is positively held against movement towards the right by the engagement of its solid end against the left-hand .edge of the stud Il but of course is free of the stud I8 and its inner solid end may ride upwardly on the inclined inner edge of the stud Il when it arrives at that point.

In their normal flat position the shoulders of the blades at both ends of the stack lie below the top faces of the projections II, I2, I3 and I4, which constitute the threshold of the blade-exit openings. Accordingly, when it is desired to separate and eject the uppermost blade, the us r may depres the central area of the blade stack with his thumb er finger, thus exing the whole stack and throw-.fing both of its ends upwardly from th: flat horizontal position shown in Fig. 4 to the upwardly bowed position shown in Fig. 5, in which the end of the blade 33 uppermost in the stack is lifted .f rom behind the projections I3 and I4 and` brought into registration with the blade exit epening. Then, by exerting the forward traction on this blade, it may be ejected while the next underlying blade is meanwhile positively held against movement in the same direction.

It will be underttood that ordinarily the zine will contain a charge of 5 or more blades and that the blades will be arranged in the loading operation with these arrows 32 directed alternately in opposite directions according to th ir relation to the studs II and I8. The lado stack rests lreely upon the spaced cross bars I5 and Ii in flat condition entirely free of all tension and without subjecting the shell of the magazine to any continued stress. The cross-bars support the blade stack in narrow transverse areas spaced from each other by substantially the length of the thumb opening 2'), thus leaving the central area of the stack lree to be flexed and depressel between the bars and immediately below the thumb op-ning. The uppermzst blade of stack will normally be held below the level of thi; outict slots by the pads 2I-211. When, however, the stack is bowed, as shown in Fig. 5, thc end of the upp.rmost blade is brought into registration with the slet. That blade may then be advanced in the proper direction and after its rear solid end has passed beneath the pads 2I and 22 it is free to ride up over the beveled edge of the stud I'I and clear itself from the magazine.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising an elongated casing having upper and lower walls with a blade-exit opening at each end defined in part by upstanding projections, and a thumb opening in its upper Wall, a stack of blades within the casing, and transversely extending projections spaced longitudinally of the casing and disposed outside the projected area of the opening for supporting the stack in unflexed horizontal position while leaving it free to be depressed in an area beneath the thumb opening, thereby flexing and lifting'.T the end of the uppermost blade of the stack above said upstanding projections into position to be ejected.

2. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a substantially rectangular casing having a cover with a thumb opening therein and a blade-exit opening at one end, and longitudinally spaced internal projections extending transversely of the casing and spaced from the ends of the casing for supporting a stack of flexible blades within this casing in areas out of line with the thumb opening whereby the blades may be depressed in an intermediate area and lifted at one end, the exit opening being elevated above the end of the blade stack when in unilexed position.

3. A blade-dispensing magazine of rectangular shape having an inner blade-containing chamber, exitlopenings at its ends and an intermediate aperture leading directly into said chamber, a stack of flexible blades within said chamber, int rnal supports spaced longitudinally of the magazine and located between the projected area of said aperture and said exit openings and in position to engage tix-e stack between its sid; edges to maintain the stack of blades in a substantially level position above the bottom of the chamber and permitting the blade stack to be bowed downwardly in an area between the said supports, and walls blocking the ends of said blades while the blades occupy a level position and terminating at the said exit opening above said level.

4. A blade-dispensing magazine of rectangular shape having an inner blade-containing cham,- ber defined by the walls of the magazine and a finger openingt in the top of the chamber exposing a portion of the said chamber, transverse supports extending across the bottom of the chamber at opposite sides of said finger opening, an end wall terminating above the level of said supports and defining the lower edge of an exit opening, and a stack of exible blades supported on said transverse supports below the said exit opening` A blade-dispensing magazine for sharp ilexible razor bladts, comprising a substantially rectangular casing with an end tapering in both directions to an intermediate blade-exit slot and a linger aperture in substantially the center of its upper flat sides, and a pair of spaced blade supports within the magazine which terminate below the level of the exit slot, the said supports extending transversely across the magazine in position to engage a blade stack in separate transverse areas between which the blade stack may be bowed downwardly by pressure exerted by the user.

6. A hollow magazine for blades, comprising an outer shell with a transverse blade outlet slot in one of its end walls and an overhead aperture substantially half-way between its ends, a transversely disposed blade 'support within the shell located in rigidly fixed position at a distance from and between the said aperture and outlet slot, engaging the stack between its side edges and below the level of the outlet slot, and a stack of iiexible blades in the magazine which may be aimed at the outlet slot by pressure exerted -through said aperture which exes the blade 8. A blade magazine comprising a shell pro? viding a blade chamber having an outlet slot at each end and an intermediate nger opening, a pair of spaced upstanding studs within said chamber having inner beveled edges and outer rectilinear edges, a stack of slotted flexible blades arranged in staggered relation on said studs whereby adjacent blades are held positively against movement in the same direction, and

stationary means for supporting the blade stack in pressure-free condition below the level of the said outlet slots.

9. A blade magazine comprising an elongated shell providing a blade chamber having an outlet slot at each end and an intermediate nger opening, a pair of cross bars within the chamber spaced apart, disposed below the level of the outlet slot and out of line with the nger opening, a stack of flexible slotted blades resting freely on said cross bars, spaced studs empaling alternate blades, and pads located above the cross bars and extending below the plane of the outlet slots.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 937,584 Fitch Oct. 19, 1909 1,131,112 Brown Mar. 9, 1915 1,763,857 Ostrander June 17, 1930 1,834,284 Kylberg Dec. 1, 1931 1,843,994 Testi Feb. 9, 1932 2,287,487 Roberts June 23, 1942 2,330,252 Testi Sept. 28, 1943 2,439,243 Dalkowitz Apr. 6, 1948 

